From trash to treasure: one artist's journey from the scrap yard to jewelry

by Latricia Thomas

Alex Nelson was working as a high school Spanish teacher when she realized something was missing. And one day, in an unlikely place, her brother's scrap yard... "I was looking through the metals I was like I know I can do something with this."

That "something" evolved into her business, The Spun collection. Necklaces, earrings and bracelets that start out as a silenced, discarded musical instrument or a chandalier left abandoned on the side of the road. Pieces of brass and copper thrown away by previous owners, made new again with a few tools and a lot of style.

Nelson's signature look requires a chemical reaction. The Patina-ed pieces are mixed and matched and molded into pieces that carry a story of where they came from. "You can't recreate that those are the things I cherish," Nelson says.

It's this artistt's favorite part of what she does, turning something many think is useless into a thing of beauty. "One man's trash is another woman's treasure."